Warrant issued for man involved in a fight at a Morton bar

A man accused of beating another man during a dispute at a bar in Morton in January has been charged with second-degree assault.

The charge is a class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Jason Wayne Merly, 52, of Olympia, was charged in Lewis County Superior Court on Feb. 20 and was issued a summons notice for a March 4 preliminary hearing, which he was not present for, prompting a judge to issue a bench warrant. .

Merly is accused of punching another man, causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head before Merly allegedly continued to punch him until he was pulled away, at G&C's Bar and Grill in the 100 block of First Street in Morton on Jan. 12.

The assault victim had allegedly pushed a woman Merly was with after the woman punched the victim’s son, according to court documents.

At the time, a woman with the victim’s son was verbally accusing the victim’s son of rape, according to court documents.

The victim’s son has denied the allegations. He was not facing charges in Lewis County Superior Court as of Tuesday afternoon.

Merly’s account of the incident matched accounts given by the other parties involved, except Merly reported that the victim “had approached him and punched him first, so he punched him back, and they fell to the ground and continued fighting,” according to court documents.

The victim sustained a laceration to his forehead and “a very large swell on the back of his head from where he hit the ground,” according to court documents.